1. Horse slaughter in Canada: On the September 17th issue of Canada’s
Winnipeg Free Press, a three-page article examined and exposed the issue
of the horse-meat industry in Canada, from transport to slaughter. There
are three horse slaughter plants in Canada where mostly unwanted foals
(from the Pregnant Mare Urine industry to make Premarin, a drug for
menopausal women) and former race horses end up being shipped to even
from the US. In fact, the number of live horses imported to Canada in
2003 was 21,434, in 2004 it was 19,725 and last year 17,324, almost all
from the US, according to Agriculture Canada.

Most people are unaware of the suffering these animals go through
during transport and at the slaughter-house. The Winnipeg Free Press
article explained in detail how horses are handled, transported and
slaughtered, with so much detail – including photos – that any reader
would be scandalized by the cruelty and violence involved. No wonder why
the horse meat-packing business has tried to keep it as secret as
possible, since most people recognize horses as companion animals and
not as food.

Hopefully, articles like this one will raise awareness on the
horse-slaughter issue. Everybody has the right to know how animals are
treated in today’s society and to be given the chance to do what Jesus
calls us to do: love them and take care of them as our Creator would.

2. “The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But
rather, can they suffer?” ~ Jeremy Bentham

3. Foie gras news in New Jersey: The state of New Jersey seems to be
the one following Chicago’s steps. Assemblyman Michael Panter, a
vegetarian, is introducing this week a legislation to ban the
distribution and sale of foie gras in the state. He believes that
force-feeding is a "barbaric practice that has no place in any civilized
society." This legislation, if passed, would not only affect New Jersey
but possibly neighboring states since it would also ban the distribution
of foie gras in and out of New Jersey.

It is for this reason that chefs
in the New York area are worried since D’Artangnan, a major foie gras
supplier, is based in New Jersey. However, in spite of it likely
affecting some businesses Michael Panter believes that, "At the end of
the day, finance and economics should not take precedent over protecting
living things. I consider this blood money.” On the other hand,
Assemblywoman Joan Voss, who proposed a bill last month that would
prohibit the force feeding of ducks, geese and other poultry for the
production of foie gras, believes that there should be a more humane way
of producing foie gras. "I don't want to ban anything," she stated.

It would be great news for God’s creation if New Jersey becomes a
state in which the exploitation of geese has no place. We should keep in
mind that if more people stopped consuming foie gras, there would be no
need to implement a ban. As consumers, we have a choice: to support
cruelty or to honor God’s creation.

4. (RSV) Proverbs 12:10 - A righteous man has regard for the life of
his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

5. Jewish Kapparot ritual: Practitioners of the Kapparot ritual have
become the target of complaints by some rabbis and animal welfare
organizations because it involves the slaughtering of a chicken to
depict the transfer of divine punishment to the soul of the chicken.

Despite the fact the many Jews have substituted the chicken with a piece
of pottery that is then smashed or money that goes to charity, some Jews
fail to acknowledge the scapegoating violence involved in the ritual and
the lack of mercy and compassion it shows. Additionally, it’s not just
the ritual what is inherently cruel, but the way chickens are handled
and transported to markets before the ritual.

People who have witnessed
this ritual believe that children who are exposed to this custom either
become cruel adults or are traumatized. A board member of the Jerusalem
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals believes that “It does
not make sense that we are asking to purify ourselves on Yom Kippur
through the slaughter of a helpless animal.”

A common practice throughout the ages has been the sacrifice of
innocent victims for the atonement of sinners. While this goes on mostly
unnoticed in our daily lives, through thoughts and deeds, the actual
sacrifice of an innocent animal to symbolize atonement is simply
barbaric. What God requests from us is not the victimization of innocent
ones, but to extend our love and compassion to all of God’s creatures.

“Literally, of course, compassion means "suffering with" the one for
whom we have compassion. It is an expression of a sense of essential
kinship with the other. The other half of essential kinship is
sympathetic joy in the inherent goodness, even delightfulness, of the
other when s/he flourishes. The reverse of compassion and sympathetic
joy is psychic numbing, which may take the form of ignorance,
indifference, callousness, or cruelty."